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Friday, 8 April 2016

Celeriac, Plantain and a Welsh Rarebit Cauliflower Steak

Cooking at times can be a chore for many of us, but sometimes it can be a pleasure. I am an experimental cook and today for Five on Friday I am sharing some ingredients in my kitchen that are exciting me and sadly somewhat make me happy especially on a Friday when I have the weekend ahead to experiment with them. So I do hope the lovely Amy will accept these. Another reason I am sharing these here, is I hope that those of you who visit will leave me some suggestions, ideas and inspiration of what I can do with some of them. I think that is one of the wonderful things about blogosphere the sharing and genuine encouragement.

First up is one of the most ugly vegetables on earth: celeriac

Here it is turned around a little more attractive to the eye. Its not a vegetable that comes into my home often, but I have grown some in the garden. In the past I have made vegetarian celeriac steaks, celeriac remoulade, soup, fritters and celeriac burgers, but I am looking for something different to do wit it, otherwise it will be some kind of gratin or oven baked crisps.

Next this may look like a ripe banana, but it is not. It is a Plantain. I have eaten plantain a number of times, mostly as deep or shallow fried crisps, but this time I am looking for something different to do with it, so again welcome any suggestions the cooks amongst you may have.

Okay so we have a row of onions, but its the one in the middle I am showing off. I have never had a Pink Onion in my life before, it made my eyes water when I peeled it. I have almost cooked with all of them. I made a couple of Fried Onion Blossoms/Blooming Onions with some of them and Onion Flowers with the others.

Next we have tinned Young Green Jackfruit. I have Jackfruit a number of times in traditional South Asian style spicy curries, but last year was shown how young green jackfruit could be used as a mock 'pork' meat substitute for those on a vegetarian or vegan diet. Here is my BBQ Pulled Jackfruit, but I am looking for different ways to cook with it, so any ideas please please share with me.

Finally, a vegetable that I used to quite disliked but have come to appreciate a little more with my cooking experiments in the kitchen - the brain like Cauliflower. I have to put my hands up and confess that I made this Welsh Rarebit Cauliflower Steak around St David's Day when I was showcasing Welsh recipes an welsh ingredients and missed it somehow. Its not the best picture as it was taken in the evening, but it sure was delicious made with beer and I am not a beer drinker. I think it would make a lovely lunch too. Its a simple recipe. I followed a good Welsh Rarebit recipe and the instead of coating a toasted bread, I smothered a cauliflower that had been steamed before it went under the grill. It was lush. I am sharing this blog post is being shared with Amy who is hosting Five on Fridaysover at Love Made My Home.

Great to see different things to eat and what to do with them. I really like a celeriac and potato gratin, that is very tasty! Thank you for taking part in Five On Friday, hope you have a great weekend! xx

Hi Shaheen,We have tried cooking with celeriac! It wasn't the most pleasant vegetable to cook with and does have an unfortunate side effect, as I am sure you will be aware, it causes a lot of wind! I can't remember how we cooked it, but we won't try it again!However I do love cauliflower, and especially in spicy meals! I followed your link to the Jackfruit recently and it sounds very interesting. I'd like to try it one day!

I love your idea of rarebit cauli - sort of like a posh cauliflower cheese. I think I saw a recipe for jackfruit in a greek kebab on Veganopoulous. And would the celeriac work in a cake - perhaps chocolate. Just a crazy thought after trying marmite chocolate.

Thanks Johanna. Yes I vaguely recall seeing the recipe you mention, I think veganapolous has left a comment on that post too. Small quantities of celeriac like 75g - 100g along with a sweet fruit like apple or pear would work in a cake so not crazy at all. I've made a nugmeg and swede cake once, so why not. I will have a look at this book I have for inspiration - vegetable in cakes is not a new idea really. I have this cookbooks Vegetable Desserts: Beyond Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Pie by Elizabeth Schafer and Jeanette L Miller (1998).

Sounds quite reasonable - I just had a quick look online and there is very little baking cakes with celeriac but a handful of examples - now I want to try it but not sure I have the opportunity just now but maybe one day - will be interested to see if you have a go

The cauliflower rarebit looks yummy! I used to live in Ecuador and we ate a lot of plantains there, cooked in many different and delicious ways. If you google Laylita's recipes plantains, she has a whole list of them (in English). I've never tried celeriac, but have read a lot about it. Something new to try.